By JIM SCHUH
of The Gazette
Deere Ridge Farms, a high technology dairy farm milking about 700 cows, will become Portage County's largest dairy operation when it opens in mid-September. And new technology will help it recycle methane gas from manure and turn it into electricity.
"This is a unique dairy, it's very environmentally friendly," says Kyle Gordon of Gordondale Farms, who's getting the big project ready for operation. His partners are his parents, Gale and Ruth Gordon of Nelsonville, and together they farm 2,300 acres in eastern Portage County.
Kyle Gordon, 35, has farmed for the past 16 years. He gets a rush from the excitement that accompanies the gamble involved in farming, but says the multi-million dollar risk his family is taking with the new project is one that's manageable.
"I just totally enjoy farming, it is a most challenging career, it brings the highest rewards." Gordon explained that in his current operations, things have gotten to the point where it just costs too much to produce 100 pounds of milk. He says if his family's farming is to continue to a fifth generation, it's necessary to modernize and expand the dairy operation, and that's what he wants to do.
Gordon says the farm has outgrown the milking parlor built in 1993. He is acting as his own designer and contractor in developing the new dairy facility. He explains the basic ideas he's using have been around for years, but the recent energy shortages have precipitated renewed interest in them.
He modeled the facility, on the south side of Highway 161 at County Trunk A in the town of Amherst, after operations two to three times its size, scaling it down to match Wisconsin's topography. He toured 1,500-cow dairy farms in Texas, California, Florida, Indiana and Michigan, to get "good ideas." The project "has been my life for the last year," he adds. During that time, new dairy operation concepts have emerged, and he's been able to incorporate some of them into his plans.
What he's developed is new to Portage County and might seem unusual. But, he says, "In respect to dairy industry today, it's commonplace."
Gordon strongly emphasizes his desire to maintain a family operation. He thinks small family farms can produce milk as cheaply as he can, but he says it requires a commitment of long hours and hard work 365 days a year by all family members. His new operation east of Nelsonville should allow for lighter schedules and time off for employees.
Gordon cites a desire to improve things for his employees, the cows, the environment and his family as reasons for building the facility. It's important to the cows for what he calls the "four Cs" - cleanliness, comfort, contentment and consistency.
"We consider ourselves a farm family. We have 10 full-time employees, so if we milk 700 cows, that's 70 per household," a reference to what many consider the typical family-sized farm. But Gordon's facility will be at a scale large enough to help him compete better in today's marketplace. He seeks to have his cows produce an average of 90 pounds of milk per day. That compares to about 50 pounds on a traditional farm. The cows will live in well-ventilated areas that are lighted 17 to 18 hours per day all year 'round, and that should help increase production.
Gordon cites the need to be able to produce 100 pounds of milk at $10 and to do so in larger volume in order to be competitive, and is confident he can do it.
In discussing the recent improved prices for milk, Gordon notes that a high percentage of milk produced today is contracted, just as with many other farm commodities. "The (milk) price people see in the paper is not what's being paid," he says, adding that many dairy producers are locked into prices in the $11.50 to $11.75 per hundredweight range. (The state reports the July milk price for Wisconsin farmers was $16.50 per hundredweight, an all-time high for the month.) At Gordondale Farms, half of the milk is contracted, and Gordon says, "That assures you of a profit."
To start operating with 700 cows, Gordon will use heifers he's been raising and plans to purchase a dairy herd from a retiring farmer. The high-tech operation will be computerized, and with the help of pedometers placed around their necks, will even monitor how far cows walk each day. In describing the technology he'll use, he calls it "all the latest and greatest."
The cows will be housed in a 70,000 square foot, 670-foot long free-stall barn. For milking, they'll walk up a wide concrete ramp into the "herringbone" milking parlor, in which the animals stand at a 45 degree angle for labor efficiency. The parlor will begin operating in a "double 14" configuration, 14 Surge milking stations on each side. Gordon hopes to be able to expand to 20 a side. At the start, the operation will be able to milk 200 cows per hour.
Pumps will send the milk through pipes to a chiller to cool it to 38 degrees. Instead of moving to a large storage tank, the milk will go directly into a tanker truck for transport to a dairy. Gordon says that will keep it "cleaner and fresher," and make it easier to market to different places.
On either side of the ramp leading to the milking parlor are cow management areas for such things as calving. A tunnel will allow employees to move easily between the milking parlor and the management area. The operation will utilize artificial insemination rather than bulls.
The 700-cow farm will produce a considerable amount of animal waste, but a new, high-tech process aims to turn it into usable elements. The manure will flow from the free stall barn into a manure digester, which Alliant Energy of Madison (formerly Wisconsin Power and Light) is building behind the barn. The manure will go into an underground 14-foot deep, horseshoe-shaped sealed digester, for a 24-day trip. During that time, methane gas will be removed, using a process that keeps the sludge at 103 degrees. The methane will go into storage tanks. Then it will power an engine that runs a generator to provide electricity for the dairy operation. But it also will produce additional electricity, an expected 150-kilowatt-hours per hour that will go onto Alliant's grid as green power. Deere Ridge Farms' manure digester is among the first in the state.
The fibrous waste that remains at the end of the 24-day methane extracting cycle will become bedding for cows, and the remaining liquid will be applied to the land as fertilizer.
Gordon, who has worked with the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) office in Stevens Point throughout the planning and development process, says, "All waste handling here meets or exceeds standards for ground water."
Having a methane digester is what he calls a "slam dunk" in terms of environmental responsibility. He says it eliminates odor and runoff and generates electricity. He foresees what he's developing as standard operating procedure for dairy farms in 20 years.
Gordon said it's been frustrating that he's spent so much time on the project, because that hasn't left time for him to educate neighbors and the community about the project's benefits.
As for possible expansion, Gordon notes that he'd need permits from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to move beyond a 700-cow operation, and says he hasn't applied for any.
The biggest dairy operation in Wisconsin is the Van der Geest farm near Merrill, which milks 3,000 cows three times a day. Such large operations must go through a stringent permitting process because of the risk of water contamination. According to a DNR representative, they actually are cleaner and more environmentally friendly than many small farms. At the same time, if they do have a problem, it becomes significant.
The Van der Geest farm is considering converting manure into electricity, and perhaps bagging and selling composted manure.
Gordon is anxious for neighbors and others with interest in dairying to see what he is building. He has scheduled an open house for Saturday, Aug. 18, beginning at 3 p.m. and running into the evening, complete with music, and is inviting the public to visit. People will be able to see the layout, although there won't be any animals on hand. He is planning a separate open house later for dairy producers.
With foot-and-mouth disease causing problems for dairy producers in Europe this year, Gordon has concerns about biosecurity. He quotes his father-in-law telling him, "You don't need to gamble because you get up every morning and do it."
Gordon and his wife, Klaire, have three children - 9-year-old Austin, 7-year-old Chase, and 4-year-old Afton.